"The Art of Darkness: A Treasury of the Morbid, Melancholic and Macabre" by S. Elizabeth is an extraordinary collection that seamlessly weaves together art, history, and the darker aspects of human expression. Elizabeth's curation is nothing short of masterful, offering readers a captivating exploration of the morbid and melancholic. This book is a triumph, both visually and intellectually.

What sets "The Art of Darkness" apart is its ability to transcend mere aesthetics and delve into the profound emotions and themes that have inspired artists throughout history. Elizabeth's commentary and insights provide valuable context, allowing readers to appreciate the depth and significance of each piece. From gothic literature to macabre visual art, the book's scope is comprehensive, offering a rich tapestry of the human experience.

The selection of artwork is nothing short of exceptional. Each piece resonates with a sense of haunting beauty, inviting the reader to linger and contemplate. Elizabeth's keen eye for detail and her understanding of the underlying narratives make this collection a treasure trove for both art enthusiasts and those with an interest in the macabre.

"The Art of Darkness" is more than a visual feast; it's a thought-provoking journey into the depths of human creativity and expression. S. Elizabeth's curation is a testament to her expertise and passion for the subject matter. This book is a must-have for anyone fascinated by the interplay between art, mortality, and the darker aspects of our shared humanity. It is a true masterpiece that will leave a lasting impression on its readers.

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very interesting book that I read in one evening. I really enjoyed it and learnt so much from reading it. It was obvious that the book was very well researched and written so well. It was also easy to read and understand. I loved all the detailed pictures of dark artwork with fantastic descriptions of the theory behind them. I really liked the crystal skull by Damien Hirst. Very pretty but scary with those human teeth. It was an interesting read. I was also fascinated by the Picasso sulk and leeks. I found that this book really brought out great emotions and intrigued me. I definitely recommend reading this book if you are interested in learning more about the darker, more interesting side of the arts. They were certainly disturbing and spooky.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this very interesting book. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this author.
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A divine retelling and showing of the worlds’ greatest and darkest hits in art. I enjoyed reading about each art work, through each visual representation.

A concise introduction, not an extensive analysis of the dark side of art, which has held humanity's attention for millenia and will certainly continue to move goths and normies alike. This is a lovely line-up of classic and modern artists, who explore the themes we avoid in our everyday lives: death, decay, and disease. The thematic structure of each chapter is very clever, although I would have wished for more analytical reviews of the individual pieces shown in this book. It has nonetheless succeeded in whetting my appetite for some more advanced research into the macabre through some artwork I had never seen before. Brava! Again, but next time with more detail, please.

After reading S. Elizabeth's previous book, "Art of the Occult," I was eager to read "The Art of Darkness." I enjoy anything obscure, dark, and mystifying, and I love the glimpses into so many time periods, artists, and diverse themes of darkness explored throughout this book.

Last year I read The Art of the Occult by S. Elizabeth and it became on of my favourite reads. Not only is it a beautiful book, beautifully designed and laid out, it is also full of stunning art and insightful commentary. So of course I wondered whether S. Elizabeth would be able to replicate this for The Art of Darkness. I am very happy to report that yes, she did. Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Darkness is a very intriguing thing. Not to flog a dead cliché, but without darkness would we appreciate the light? Further, darkness has a way of making us confront both our inherent loneliness and the fear of not being alone. When it's just you, in the dark, there is no way to avoid yourself. But what if it is not just you, what if there is something else in the dark. What does that other look like? What shape do we give things like 'fear', 'nightmare', 'horror', 'anxiety', 'dread'? This book features all 'these anxieties and aversions, tensions and terrors that transcend time and which have long plagued our psyches' (Introduction, 9) and yet there is also a lot of beauty in these pages. The Art of Darkness shows that in many ways the dark can be as, if not more, inspiring than the light. Through her work, S. Elizabeth inspires and encourages her reader to connect with their darknes and thereby take some of its power away.

The Art of Darkness is split into four parts, which are then divided into three chapters each. The first 'It's All in Your Mind' tracks the way dreams, anxieties, and voices in the dark affect us. It features Hieronymus Bosch' terrifying The Garden of Earthly Delights but also Frida Kahlo's stunning The Wounded Deer. Our own mind can be a place of terror and beauty, and often those two go hand in hand. The second part, 'The Human Condition', considers the darkness of human life, from disease to depravity to death. Whether it is the grotesque tragedy of George Grosz' The Funeral or creeping horror of Odilon Redon's Perversity, human traits and human bodies can be a major site of darkness and distress. Part Three, 'The World Around Us', is perhaps my favourite part, specifically the chapter called 'Darkness in Bloom'. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Dorothea Tanning struck me in its straightforward yet terrifying imagery. Animals also feature, and I conitnue to be attracted and repulsed by Louise Bourgeois' sculpture Maman. Google it, seriously! Landscapes are also a major focus of darkness and I loved thepieces she selected for this chapter. Especially The Great Day of his Wrath by John Martin shook me. The final part, 'Visions from Beyond', considers the divine, the unseen but felt, the fairies and the ghouls. Marci Washington's Through the Thinnest of Veils is a stunning image of darkness brought to light by a white shroud, while the woodblock print Takiyasha the Witch nd the Skeleton Spectre by Utagawa Kuniyoshi speaks of darkness through its vivid colours.

What I continue to appreciate about S. Elizabeth's collection of art is that she looks beyond the classics, beyond the well-known works. She frequently features current and contemporary artists, as well as different mediums of art. As such, there is always something new and surprising to discover in the pages of her books, even to those relatively in-touch with art. Her introductions and discussions of the art pieces are also very direct and calm, approachable and never condescending. Through her writing it becomes clear that art is meant as a service as well, that art is not just something beautiful but also something that can assist you. While The Art of Darkness covers difficult topics and also features some art that's on the gruesome side, it is never gratuitous or sensationalist. The book also features further reading and an excellent index, which allows readers to dig a little further or return to specific pieces. The design of the physical book is also beautiful. Different page colours indicate chapter headings or introductory texts, which helps the reader navigate. The paintings, photos and sculptures are beautifully reproduced in all their vibrancy or darkness. I must also say I adore the font of the book. Masumi Briozzo has, in short, done a great job on the design. I do hope S. Elizabeth continues to create such stunning books because she has most definitely broadened my view, my understanding of art, and my appreciation of the dark.

The Art of Darkness is a very enjoyable read. Not only is the art absolutely stunning and well-selected, but S. Elizabeth is also an excellent guide through the dark. I would recommend this to anyone with a taste for darkness or an eye for beauty. And no, that is not contradictory.

I felt the concept was appealing and interesting, but the execution was not what I expected. As much as I tried and re/read certain paragraphs, I couldn't connect with the reading, didn't feel any kind of interested, and decided to abandon it at page 73. Not being an art student, I wasn't familiar with the included pieces, but I couldn't understand what was it that made them so relevant, either.

Thanks to net galley, S.Elizabeth and Francis Lincoln Publishing for sending this AOR e-book for review.
By confronting our fears and our inhabitions, we can become more aware of ourselves. In this book and collection of artwork, we look at the themes that are dark, intense and horrifying; but also very masterful and beautiful, and help to bring our fears into the open.
Beautifully written and formatted, I enjoyed the exploration of Dreams + Nightmares, mortality, Doom + Destruction. We can connect with the feelings and anguish of this artwork, and the choice of artists included is excellent. Artists with very different styles and time periods are included, and fear in its many manifestations were well represented and masterful.
Artists from Bosch, de Chirico, and Fuseli to Basquiant, Charlie Harper and Amy Earles are but a few of the many included here.
Absolutely fascinating. The text for each art piece is as captivating as the art work itself and I could not put this down. Highly recommended.

Unfortunately I can't open the file and this book has now been archived. Judging from previous feedback this publication would have been right up my alley, hence the 3 stars, as to not to upset the status quo.

I cannot wait to buy this in hardback the second it comes out!

The Art of Darkness is a fantastic collection of art, it’s both intriguing and accessible; just so, so fascinating.

I am genuinely so excited about this book, it would be a brilliant gift for any art lover but prior art knowledge really isn’t necessary due to S. Elizabeth’s writing: it’s not at all pretentious and is extremely informative and understandable.

I highly recommend!

Obsessed with this book. It is so poetically written and it highlights art in a way that most have never looked at it. I recommend this one for anyone who likes beautiful writing, dark art, or art history.

The author attempts to analyze the darkness that exists in the human psyche and presents itself as fear, terror, horror, etc. with the aid of artwork that is full of gloomy themes and images as well as allusions from numerous thinkers, poets, writers, and painters.

For newcomers like myself, this book would adequately introduce the highlighted artworks. The accompanying written information, meanwhile, was a little disappointing. Since this is nonfiction about art and photography, I was hoping the author would sound a little more educated. The depth I was seeking for was seriously lacking in various sections of the writing. We see the sentences such as; Shit happens. Pain is pain, feelings are feelings. However, I appreciated the information.

Finally, I believe that reading this book in physical form is the greatest way to really appreciate it. It was challenging to move between different sites' descriptions and photographs.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, for providing an ARC of this book for reviewers.
The author attempts to analyze the darkness that exists in the human psyche and presents itself as fear, terror, horror, etc. with the aid of artwork that is full of gloomy themes and images as well as allusions from numerous thinkers, poets, writers, and painters.

For newcomers like myself, this book would adequately introduce the highlighted artworks. The accompanying written information, meanwhile, was a little disappointing. Since this is nonfiction about art and photography, I was hoping the author would sound a little more educated. The depth I was seeking for was seriously lacking in various sections of the writing. We see the sentences such as; Shit happens. Pain is pain, feelings are feelings. However, I appreciated the information.

Finally, I believe that reading this book in physical form is the greatest way to really appreciate it. It was challenging to move between different sites' descriptions and photographs.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, for providing an ARC of this book for reviewers.

Many thanks to White Lion Publishing for the review copy.

This is a perfectly fine book for what it sets out to do: to show you spooky artworks. I think it would make a great gift for someone darkly inclined, or on a coffee table. It has dozens of artworks inside of it, mostly European and American, but with a scattered few from other continents, and largely from the last 400 years. The artworks are grouped thematically (It's All In Your Mind, The Human Condition, The World Around Us, and Visions from Beyond) with a little essay at the beginning and captions for each artwork. I found the essays mostly insipid, and the captions for each artwork were very basic, almost Wikipedia level.

The book sacrifices true understanding and learning in favor of shallow spookiness. A good example of this is Maman by Louise Bourgeois, an enormous sculpture of a spider. The caption of this image mentions arachnophobia and a "powerful physical and emotional shadow," and it's inclusion in this book suggests that the sculpture is dark. But this totally ignores Louise Bourgeois's own interpretation of her work as a portrait of her mother, as a weaver, as a protective force. It's not a dark work, but you won't know that from Elizabeth's caption.

Side note: This passage also contains a glaring error: "So massive that it can only be installed outdoors," is false. Editions of Maman have been installed indoors on multiple occasions. So take the factual accuracy of this book with a grain of salt. Again, we are here for vibes, not for learning.

Another example of non-learning is in a caption for one of Paul Koudounaris's photographs of St. Valterius. In the caption Elizabeth explains Koudounaris's background and then says "For his series Heavenly Bodies, Koudounaris was able to gain unprecedented access to various religious institutions and it reveals an intriguing visual history of the veneration in European churches and monasteries of bejewelled and decorated skeletons." No where in this caption does it even mention what a catacomb saint is. It's just so shallow, you can't learn anything from these paragraphs.

Conclusion: this is a book to be flipped through, not to be read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to review.

3.5 stars!

I really love art and looking at the darker side of it. The author really breaks down well known pieces and what they represent, information about the art itself along with the artists. The chapters are also broken down into certain themes.

I would have loved even more art examples shown by unknown artists and even a deeper dive into other mediums such as photography as only a few examples were given. Regardless I enjoyed reading it and looking at the artwork.

If the author decides to do another collection purely focused on photography I will definitely give it a read.

A great collection of art reflecting the darker side from disease and death, mental illness to nightmares, the human condition,war, gods and ghosts and monsters. There’s some obvious choices (Munch, Fuseli, Bosch, Dali) to lesser known pieces of well known artists (eg The Somnambulist by Millais). Classic painting in all sorts of styles, photography, contemporary art and sculpture (favourite sculpture featured : Maman, a giant spider by Louise Bourgeois).

This is a fascinating anthology of dark art. Various subjects are covered such as nightmares, depictions of death and illness, gods and monsters, ghosts etc. Well known artists as well as less well known are covered throughout history. Analysis of why we have such a fascination with these topics is thoroughly discussed. The art works are perfectly reproduced with a short history and description given of each. I loved that this introduced me to new artists and ideas. The work of one person portraying their descent into the effects of Alzheimer’s and the tragic depiction of a young man, his wife and unborn baby who soon after died of the Spanish flu I found particularly moving. This is a great book to dip into and study a particular painting or sculpture, explore its meaning, and maybe ponder why we are attracted to this genre.

This was a gorgeous collection of dark and macabre artwork. I was fascinated by the topic and admittedly having never taken an art course was only familiar with some of the pieces. I appreciate the brief introductions to each work and the basic art criticism that was included. This book would make a great gift.

Rating: 2/5 stars

I always feel bad for rating any book this low, especially when they haven’t gotten many reviews yet, so my voice will sound extra loud. That being said; I couldn’t justify a higher rating, as I truly didn’t enjoy this collection and wouldn’t have finished it if it weren’t for this review.
The Art of Darkness is a selection of artwork, bound together by the theme of darkness and the macabre that has facinated artists since the dawn of time. It features paintings, sculptures and more, from ancient classics to modern art, accompanied by the authors thematical insights and background information.
Although I enjoyed the concept and the featured artworks, the collection as a whole felt stunningly surface-level. The majority of the works featured are by very well known Western artist, so if you took a high school art-history class anywhere in the USA or Europe, you’re probably already familiar with the majority of them. The accompanying text as well felt very supervicial and “high-school-level”.
This might work well as an introductory collection, but as a piece of non-fiction advertized to explore such a specific theme in art in more depth, it wasn’t what I was expecting. Missed opportunities in both terms of depth (with the background information), as well as range (concerning the cultural backgrounds, styles, and level of fame of the artists).

Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Art of Darkness will be out in stores from September 20th 2022 onwards.

This is a beautiful book. I hope I can get it in hardcover someday. The artwork is fantastic, and I learned a lot about the artists and their experiences with the world. Although, I would have liked to see more Latin American and African artists and Asian artists from different countries, not only Japanese.

An absolute indispensable meditation on dark art, that finds the perfect balance between the creative and personal and academic article.

As a lifelong art obsessive with a fixation on the dark side of life, The Art of Darkness by S. Elizabeth is an answer to my prayers and a dream come true. Tastefully curated and meticulously researched, The Art of Darkness is a cornucopia of decadence, delirium, magic and madness, all laid out in an intuitive and attractive way that is easy to navigate yet aids surprise discoveries.

Even more impressively, Elizabeth uses art to illustrate some complex, subtle and nuanced philosophies. Francis Bacon's "Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X" wouldn't have been my first pick as a way to illustrate Existentialism, yet once pointed out it's impossible to unsee. I've loved that painting for 20 years, and now I look at it in a whole new way.

The Art of Darkness is organized by theme, from mental illness to physical maladies. Each section includes a cross-section of well-known works and lesser-known pieces. Even better still, many of the pieces found in The Art of Darkness are from contemporary artists from all over the world, as well, so you'll get two fistfuls of new favorites while you bask in the delicious reproductions of your favorite macabre artworks.

The Art of Darkness is a work of stunning beauty and impressive scholarship. It's a joy for the senses ad the mind - absolutely essential for all lovers of dark and macabre art and one of the most beautiful art books of the year.